2002 UFO Investigation Reports

Date/Time of Sighting: 02 January, 2002 - approx 5:30 PM CST
Place of Sighting: Bloomington, MN
Local Evaluation: Inconclusive - Possible Unknown
Type of Report: NL/MAAA1 - distant maneuvering light seen
by two witnesses
Date of Report: 05 March, 2002
Investigator: Craig R. Lang WUFOD# 1-850-MN
Sighting Background
I and the witness are both friends of another MN MUFON member.
I was informed of the sighting by this mutual friend, who
indicated that it would be OK to contact the witness. I
contacted and interviewed both witnesses on 27 February, 2002.
Both witnesses gave full form 1 reports. The primary witness
also wrote his description of the sighting in an attached
writeup.
Witness Description
The witnesses are a couple that lives and works in the
Bloomington area. The primary witness is a 25 year old male.
The second witness is his girlfriend. She is 22 years old and
has excellent health and hearing. She describes her vision as
less than great (somewhat nearsighted). She was not wearing
her glasses at the time of the sighting. Both witnesses
indicate that they have had no health changes since the
sighting. Both witnesses work at the same place, and both
were there at the time of the sighting.
Sighting Account
The primary witness had left work to run a quick errand at a
nearby store in the same strip mall where he works. At about
5:30 PM CST, as he was walking between locations, he looked
to the southwest to observe a bright light which appeared to
be stationary, about 45 degrees up in the southwestern sky.
He felt that it seemed unusual - not a star or airplane, and
was curious about it. He watched it for several minutes, as
he walked back from his errand. The light was briefly
obscured by a building and when it became visible again, he
again saw it at the same location. Along with the first light,
a second light was now approaching on an east to west path,
from a location closer to due south.
As he watched, the second light approached the first from
the left (east) at a steady rate, and then merged with it. The
first light remained at the same brightness, and in the same
location. He ran into work to get his girlfriend (the second
witness). They both stepped outside to observe the light,
which remained motionless in the southwestern sky. They
observed it for slightly less than a minute more, as it
rapidly, faded out and was no longer visible.
Object Description:
The primary witness described both objects as solid white
lights, which the witness described as about the brightness
of the moon. [It was not clear what this meant, and therefore
what the actual brightness was. However both witnesses felt
that it was brighter than any stars present]. He indicated
that they had an observable diameter to them. He also notes
that at the end of the sighting, the remaining object faded
from view.
The second witness described the object (one object only,
since the two lights had merged by this time), as reddish and
about the brightness of a star. She was not wearing her
glasses at that moment, so could not discern any size to the
object. She observed it suddenly vanish - "it just wasn't
there".
Additional Witnesses: None
Weather and Sky Conditions:
Witness description of weather was clear and cold, with
unlimited visibility, and no clouds. It should be noted that
the sun had just set, and the sky was still partly lit,
especially in the southwest. This light would have been
fading while they observed the lights.
Natural and Manmade Phenomenon Check:
No bright planets were in the southwest at the time of the
sighting. Mars was nearly due South, at an elevation of
approximately 45 degrees, with a brightness of 0.8 magnitude.
This could be considered as a null hypothesis, although the
witnesses clearly stated the location as southwest.
Also, as a null hypothesis, the vanishing object might have
been an aircraft, with its landing lights initially visible
to the witness, and which subsequently "disappeared" when
the landing lights were either turned off or were no longer
pointing in his direction. This does not explain the
stationary object, however, which was seems to have been
stationary for too long a time to be explainable as an
aircraft.
It is also not clear in any null hypothesis, how the rapid
fade-out would have occurred at the end of the sighting.
This factor and those described above suggest that the
object(s) observed may have been unknown in nature.
Sighting Evaluation: Inconclusive - Possible Unknown